Holiday Health and Food Safety
A large, traditional meal is at the center of many holiday traditions. From making nutritious choices at holiday parties to preparing an oven-roasted turkey safely, the holiday season brings about many questions about foods and health. Just following the myriad of food-safety guidelines and precautions can be mind-boggling for the gourmet chef and novice alike. In this media kit, you will find a feature article on preparing healthy, low-cost holiday meals. There are also articles on preventing food-borne illness when storing leftovers, how to encourage children to stay healthy and active for the holidays, oven-roasting and deep-fat frying turkeys, buffet-style meals, and avoiding cross-contamination, along with multimedia presentations on topics such as defrosting a turkey and planning a new physical activity for the New Year.
Latest News
Extension has advice on healthy, low-cost holiday meals (October 2009)
Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy a good meal with family and friends. Virginia Cooperative Extension has tips for families and individuals who want to continue their traditions without sacrificing good nutrition or dipping into their savings.
Experts
| Renee Boyer | Extension consumer food-safety specialist and assistant professor of food science and technology | Virginia Tech | (540) 231-4330 | rrboyer@vt.edu |
| Elena Serrano | Extension childhood nutrition specialist and associate professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise | Virginia Tech | (540) 231-3464 | serrano@vt.edu |
Store holiday leftovers properly to avoid food-borne illness (November 2007)
Holiday meal leftovers have almost as many traditions as the meals themselves. From turkey salad sandwiches to turkey tetrazzini, cooks want the leftovers for their traditional holiday meals to be as good, and as safe, as the feast itself.
Healthy, active kids for the holidays (November 2007)
With the rate of childhood overweight on the rise, children need to have opportunities to eat well and be active. But when holiday school breaks roll around, parents may have extra difficulty finding time for these opportunities.
Why deep-fat fry? (August 2007)
In recent years, new cooking methods have been added to the traditional roasting of the holiday turkey. One of the most popular methods originated in the South and is called deep-fat frying.
Hosts need to be sure buffet-style meals follow food safety-recommendations (August 2007)
All cooks want all their guests to enjoy themselves and so they make sure all the food-safety recommendations are followed when they prepare a meal. Serving foods buffet-style at meals or parties has special food-safety hazards, but these hazards are easy to overcome.
Here are some easy tips to keep food safe (August 2007)
Is “risk” something you associate with sitting down to eat a meal? Probably not, considering the United States prides itself on having the safest food in the world. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 76 million Americans suffer from food-borne illness each year.
Obey food-safety guidelines when preparing a holiday turkey (November 2006)
As the winter holidays approach, families should know the proper way to roast a turkey. Virginia Cooperative Extension offers advice on safely preparing this holiday meal.
Publications
Extension has publications on food preservation, food safety, and health and nutrition relevant to holiday health and food safety topics.
Multimedia
Keep meats and produce separate (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Don’t forget to sanitize to prevent cross-contamination (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Defrosting a turkey safely (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Cooking a turkey completely (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
If you must stuff, do it safety (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Treat those leftovers right (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Resources to help holiday cooks (November 2006)
Radio news feature with Renee Boyer, consumer food-safety Extension specialist
Making healthy food choices at holiday parties (December 2005)
Radio news feature with Elena Serrano, nutrition Extension specialist
Less excess at the holiday table (December 2005)
Radio news feature with Elena Serrano, nutrition Extension specialist
Staying active during the holidays (December 2005)
Radio news feature with Elena Serrano, nutrition Extension specialist
Keep moving during the holidays (December 2005)
Radio news feature with Elena Serrano, nutrition Extension specialist
Choose a new physical activity for the New Year (December 2005)
Radio news feature with Elena Serrano, nutrition Extension specialist
All video and audio resources are courtesy of University Relations Office of Visual and Broadcast Communications.
Additional Resources
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website has MyPyramid Tips for a Healthier Holiday Season. This includes information on de-stressing during the holidays, making healthy choices while eating out, healthy holiday cooking, portion sizes, encouraging children to stay healthy over the holidays, and holiday food safety.
For cooking questions, call the USDA’s meat and poultry hotline at (800) 674-6854. An automated Ask Karen response program is available to answer food safety questions online.
Many counties and cities have family and consumer science agents with resources on holiday health and food safety. Contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office for more information about a program in your area.
Extension also has a directory of Extension experts on all of the topics it covers. If you need help locating a source or looking for additional information, contact Michael Sutphin at (540) 231-6975 or Lori Greiner at (540) 231-5863.